1. Field
The present invention relates, generally, to agricultural and horticultural systems, apparatus and methods. More particularly, the invention relates to systems, apparatus, and methods to effectuate delivery of beneficial or sustaining fluids to components of plants residing in an elevated condition in relation to the ground. Most particularly, such fluids are gases delivered to leaves/canopy of plants in orchards, vineyards, and the like. The invention is especially suitable for delivery of CO2 gas.
2. Background Information
Plants obtain their water requirement from the soil via their root systems. Less known, but equally important, is that the CO2 requirement comes from the air via the leaves. In the presence of sunlight, plants combine carbon from CO2 with water to produce carbohydrates and oxygen—photosynthesis;6CO2+6O2+sunlight & chlorophyll=>C6H206+O2.Increasing the air's daytime CO2 concentration accelerates photosynthetic activity inducing the plants to become heartier and to produce more, larger and healthier fruits, vegetables and root systems. The crops are more disease resistant and the whole process is deemed organic by the USDA.
Of further importance is that as plants acquire CO2 from the air via their leaves, they lose water vapor through this same mechanism. This water loss, known as transpiration, is significant. The leafs gaseous exchange. CO2 in and water vapor out, is regulated by microscopic orifices called “stomata” located predominantly on the underside of leaves. CO2 regulates the size of the stomata opening. When plenty of CO2 available and the apertures close, reducing water loss. With an ambient CO2 deficit, the apertures open, greatly increasing the plant's water loss. Thus, stomatal closure induced by the application of CO2 has at least the following benefits: (1) the rate of water loss declines thereby decreasing the plant's water requirements and increasing the water-use efficiency (yield/unit of water); (2) it reduces the plant's vulnerability to drought; and, (3) it stems the inducement of harmful air pollutants into the plant's metabolic processes The third aspect is particularly beneficial in the notably highly delterious ozone pollution synonymous with Central Valley, Calif. air quality.
While greenhouse and other closed plant growth environments have made in roads to leveraging the foregoing principles, the distrinbution, application, and effective retention of CO2 in outdoor settings has generally been a non-starter for various reasons. Be that as it may, with global population growth and rising affluence in developing nations, significant demands are being placed upon freshwater supplies while stretching farmers' ability to produce enough quality food to meet rising demand. At the same time, the grim realization that CO2 emissions are a global threat and corporate liability has government officials and corporate executives seeking answers.
In light of the foregoing, it is believed especially advantageous to provide improved CO2 enrichment technology for effective and efficient distribution, application and retention of CO2 gas to large, open-field tracts of farmland so as to envelope plants' leaves with CO2 gas. Moreover, it is believed desirable and advantageous to provide a sapling windbreak or the like which magnifies CO2 residency, enables higher CO2 concentrations, reduces CO2 costs, and enables other agronomic functions. More particularly still, it is believed that a low cost, high durability, high efficiency, reliable sapling growth system, in kit form or otherwise, is desirable, with select stake and windbreak and adjustable elements believed to be especially advantageous so as to increase the systems' capabilities commensurate with sapling growth.
Younger saplings are key to the orchard production. It takes 5-6 years to get the orchards into production with substantial investment capital tied up for years in advance of the orchard and/or vineyard's production and payout. By applying CO2 gas to the young saplings as much as one or two years could be knocked off the production cycle which would have significant financial benefits to orchard and vineyard owners. Moreover, in the early years of the orchard, the juvenile saplings are very susceptible to costly mortality so it would be highly desirable to provide the saplings with CO2 to increase their vigor, reduce water stress and improve resiliency to a whole package of environmental stresses that lead to mortality. Unfortunately, because the trees are planted on such great spacing to allow for a full canopy later in life, they do not control the microclimate within the orchard and wind within the orchard in the early years. An older orchard would also benefit by having broadcast CO2 application.
Many orchards and notably the nut orchards are harvested with big mechanical shakers that grab the trunk of the tree and literally shake all the nuts off the tree. The embodiments of the invention for applying CO2 gas avoid interfering with this highly automated process and allow the machine to quickly approach the trunk of the tree and grab hold of it as circumstances warrant.
Existing technology is believed to have significant limitations and shortcomings. For these and other reasons, a need exists for the present invention.
All US patents and patent applications, and all other published documents mentioned anywhere in this application are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety.